Haven: A Cocky Cage Fighter Spin-off Novel Read online

  Haven

  A Cocky Cage Fighter Spin-off Novel

  Lane Hart

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Also by Lane Hart

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue were created from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual people or events is coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the copyrighted and trademarked status of various products within this work of fiction.

  © 2019 Editor's Choice Publishing

  All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editor’s Choice Publishing

  P.O. Box 10024

  Greensboro, NC 27404

  Edited by Angela Snyder

  Cover by Addendum Designs

  Warning: The characters in this fictional story struggle with serious emotional issues like depression and suicide which could be a trigger for individuals who have experienced similar situations.

  Synopsis

  Haven Ward only had one job as a personal bodyguard – keep Mackenzie Stiles alive and unharmed.

  After making a monumental mistake, his billionaire boss is livid and ready to send him packing. Haven begs Mr. Stiles for a second chance to prove himself; and surprisingly enough, he gives him one…with just one little catch.

  Befriending Mr. Stiles’ shy, recluse daughter seems like a piece of cake especially since Haven needs his job to provide for the people depending on him.

  Mackenzie is a beautiful girl with an ugly darkness in her that Haven slowly begins to unravel. As he helps her slay her demons, she becomes an irresistible force he can’t resist.

  Despite the consequences, Haven believes Mackenzie was always meant to be his to protect. He’ll do anything to be with her, even come clean to his boss about their relationship.

  When Mackenzie finds out her father paid Haven to be her friend, the betrayal has her questioning every second with the man she thought loved her, sending her spiraling out of control.

  In the end, Haven realizes too late that no matter how hard he tries, there’s nothing he can do to keep Mackenzie safe from herself.

  But that doesn’t stop him from risking his life to save hers.

  Warning: The characters in this fictional story struggle with serious emotional issues like depression and suicide which could be a trigger for individuals who have experienced similar situations.

  Chapter One

  Haven Ward

  “Let’s go,” Mr. Stiles says stiffly when he climbs in the back of the SUV. I fumble for the keys to get the engine cranked fast enough.

  Even after three years, the man still intimidates me. I guess that’s to be expected from one of the richest men in the entire fucking country.

  “Should we wait for…” I start, nodding toward Sligo Creek where his son Alex must still be hanging out since he came here in the SUV with us.

  “No,” he snaps. “I said let’s go. That means go.”

  “Sorry, sir,” I reply, feeling Rowe, the head of security and my boss, glaring daggers at me from the passenger seat for being stupid enough to question the boss man.

  “Home, sir?” Rowe asks, for which I’m grateful. I intend to keep my big mouth shut for the rest of the day.

  “Yes,” Mr. Stiles replies. “And I want Ward on Mackenzie until Alex returns.”

  “Of course,” Rowe agrees.

  Until Alex returns? Where the hell is he going? Shouldn’t he have a guard with him?

  These are the questions I want to ask, but I hold my tongue like the good little watchdog I was trained to be. We do what Mr. Stiles says when he says to do it to keep him and his family safe. In exchange, he pays us a shitload of money. All the zeros on my current monthly paychecks make the money I earned in the Army look like chump change. That’s why I will gladly do anything I’m told to keep this job. Not that I need much cash to get by. Me, Rowe, Carson, Wagner and their two other live-in fulltime guards get free room and board in the guest house.

  No, the piles of cash are not for me personally. There are three other mouths I have to feed and three heads I’m responsible for keeping a roof over. So, if I’m assigned to Mackenzie Stiles instead of her brother Alex, I won’t bitch or complain. Much.

  The Stiles’ kids and their father always have at least one personal guard to stay within an arm’s reach of them when they leave the house. They have their own housekeeper, who cleans their rooms, and chefs to prepare their meals. Everything the kids want, they get.

  Mackenzie Stiles never leaves the house, though, so I have no fucking clue why her father needs me as her guard. It’s going to be boring as fuck, pacing around the hallways since she’s a recluse. What a waste of time. But it’s his money to waste, and I will gladly accept it.

  I wonder when Alex will be back? Days? Weeks? The spoiled little shit may have been a little wild and crazy, but his love for the gym, strip clubs and parties kept my job interesting.

  “When do we expect Alex to return?” Rowe asks, clearly wondering the same thing. “Should we have Wagner or Carson keep eyes on him?” The two men brought Mr. Stiles to the park but are following our SUV.

  “No, he’s on his own now,” Mr. Stiles answers gruffly. I glance at him quickly in the rearview and see him staring pensively out his window. “And I have no idea when Alex will return. Maybe not for a year,” he adds. “That’s up to him now.”

  Odd, but whatever. The kid isn’t my problem anymore.

  When we pull up at the front of the mansion a few minutes later, the boss climbs out and slams his door without a word; and then I drive around to the back to park the SUV in their enormous garage.

  “Am I seriously supposed to babysit a twenty-one-year-old girl all day while she hides out in her room doing whatever the fuck she does?” I ask Rowe after we come to a stop.

  “You have no idea how crucial this assignment is. Believe me, there’s no risk too small to be overlooked. I’ll give you a copy of her file later today.”

  “Huh?” I ask him in confusion. “What, she might overexert herself watching television? Hurt her wrist typing on her computer for too long?”

  “Haven,” Rowe starts in the tone that means I must be out of line because he rarely ever uses my first name. “Mackenzie Stiles is a suicide risk. With Alex gone indefinitely, she’ll be even more unstable.”

  “Holy shit. She tried to kill herself?” I ask in surprise since this is the first I’ve heard about it.

  “Mr. Stiles keeps it on a need-to-know basis. Not even Alex is aware of how bad things have been lately.”

  “Why doesn’t he just have her committed if she’s a danger to herself?”

  “Because she’s his little girl. Losing his wife was hard enough on him, but he’s not ready to lock Mackenzie up and throw away the key. He’s hoping she’ll get better with therapy. Anyway, you’ll have your work cut out for you.”

  “No shit,” I mutter.

  “Mackenzie is not allowed to have knives; her dinner will be cut up for her. No belts or strings on her clothing, and no razors.”

  “Jesus,” I say when I realize he’s actually serious with all these precautions.

  “So she really tried to end it?”

  “Yes, by alcohol poisoning,” Rowe answers. “That’s why all the alcohol in the house is now locked up in cabinets and only Mr. Stiles has the key.”

  “And no one told Alex any of this?” I ask because he always seemed so carefree and sort of an asshole to his younger sister.

  “No,” he replies and then reaches for the passenger door to open it. “Like I said, need to know only.”

  Chapter Two

  Mackenzie Stiles

  “Hey, Daddy,” I say as I jog down one of our two spiral staircases to greet him after I heard him come in the front door. He’s barely home more than one day a week and it’s not unusual to go days without seeing or hearing from him. “Where’s Alex?” I ask since he called and woke me up to have Alex come and meet him.

  “He’s gone…on vacation,” my father says as he walks past me in the direction of his office, barely acknowledging me.

  “Gone? What do you mean he’s gone on vacation?” I ask as I follow behind him. “When will he be back?”

  Today’s my brother’s birthday. And after Alex and my father’s meetin
g, I thought the three of us could at least sit down and have a quick breakfast together.

  “I don’t know,” Dad says, not slowing down.

  “So he won’t be back today? I didn’t give him his birthday present yet,” I tell him.

  My older brother may be a self-absorbed dickhead most of the time, but I still love him. He’s the only person who actually talks to me on a regular basis even if we do constantly tease each other. The only conversations I have with my father are forced, like this one on the few occasions he’s actually home.

  “Dad!” I exclaim when he goes into his office and starts to shut the door on me. “What’s going on?”

  Blowing out his breath, he turns to me and says, “I told your brother he has to live on his own for the next year or he’ll lose his trust fund. How long he actually makes it for, I don’t very well know.”

  “What?” I exclaim. “You kicked Alex out?”

  “I gave him a choice. What he does is up to him. He’ll be fine on his own or he’ll come home,” he remarks. “Now go. I have work to do.”

  The oak door slams in my face, and I’m left standing in the empty hallway with a million other questions I know won’t get answered.

  What if something happens to Alex?

  The world isn’t safe. Look at what happened to our mother! She went out for a jog and never came back. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to my brother too.

  Running up two flights of stairs to my bedroom on the third floor, I sit down on the foot of the bed to try to call Alex, but his cell phone keeps going to voicemail. Did my father take his phone too?

  I jump up and start back down the hall to demand more answers from my father since I don’t know what the hell he’s thinking, leaving Alex on his own without a phone. Before I make it to the stairs, I run smack dab into a hard brick wall, also known as Ward, Alex’s bodyguard.

  “Where’s my brother?” I tilt my face up to ask the titan of a man. He’s more than a foot taller than me and about three times as wide. Ward is the size of an oak tree, which makes me feel smaller than his shadow.

  “Dunno,” he answers, combining two words into one.

  “You’re his guard. Why aren’t you guarding him?” I ask in confusion.

  “He’s no longer my responsibility. You are.”

  “What? Alex is out there in the world all alone with no one watching his back?” I question him.

  “Yep.”

  “What if…what if someone robs him or he has a wreck?”

  “Mr. Stiles seems to think he’ll be fine on his own.”

  “Wow, and aren’t you super concerned for him?” I mutter.

  “I just do what they tell me,” Ward replies with a shrug, his hands slipping into the front pockets of his black pants. His dark suit must have been tailor made to fit his massive chest and tree-trunk thighs since there are no oak sizes in men’s clothing stores. At least not that I know of. All my shopping is done online.

  “You don’t give a shit about what happens to him, do you?” I shout up at the giant.

  “He’ll be back, either in a year or sooner,” he tells me calmly. “Until then, you’re stuck with me, munchkin.”

  My jaw drops at the unfortunate nickname.

  “I am a normal height at five-four. You are not!” I yell at him before I go back into my room and slam the door like a sullen teenager because I’m angry and sad and…lonely.

  God, I’m so damn lonely.

  The sinking black hole inside of me grows a little deeper and wider each day. Teasing Alex could usually beat it back some, but without him…I don’t know what the fuck I’ll do.

  My fists clench by my sides and my fingernails dig into the flesh of my palms as I rest my back against the closed door. The pain feels good, like I’m taking control of my body and my life and finding some relief.

  My relief is shattered when I’m suddenly shoved forward, nearly falling on my face before my hand reaches out to catch myself on the foot of my mattress.

  “Hey! What the hell?” I exclaim when I turn around and see Ward ducking his head under my doorway and squeezing through the opening. “What are you doing in here?” I ask.

  “Room inspection,” he says before he walks past me and starts opening the drawers on my dresser.

  “You have no right!” I yell at him since it’s impossible to try and stop him when all he has to do is flick me away with his fingers like I’m nothing but a bothersome fly.

  “Take it up with daddy,” the jerk says while he continues riffling through my bras and panties before moving on to my socks.

  I don’t know which is more embarrassing, having him see all my underwear or the fact that I’m only allowed to have sports bras and granny panties with no strings.

  After he’s finished with my dresser, he peels the sheets back from my bed, the place where I sleep and do other very personal, private things.

  When he starts to lift my mattress, I panic.

  “No!” I tell him as I hop on top of it, bouncing a few times when my butt hits it so hard. “There’s nothing to see under here,” I say with my palms pressed down by my sides like I’m capable of holding the thing in place.

  “Up,” the annoying ogre instructs. Although, ogre probably isn’t the right word since Ward is enormous but not hideous. He’s actually the opposite, with jet-black hair and thin beard, long, almost girly dark lashes drawing attention to his denim blue eyes. I would climb him like the tree he is if given the chance, not that he would ever want a silly little inexperienced girl like me.

  The point is, he’s hot and he’s already seen my unflattering bras and panties. I can’t let him see what’s hiding underneath my mattress.

  “Up,” he says again, his thick eyebrows meeting and voice deepening so that the one word is an order while the first time it sounded like a request.

  I shake my head in refusal, which does nothing to stop him. He lifts the right side of the mattress with me on it, sending me sliding right off onto the other side of the floor where I wish I could liquify and seep into the carpet.

  “What the…oh!” Ward says from behind the raised mattress. And when I peek over, he’s holding my bright pink Lelo in his big mitt.

  Kill me now.

  Chapter Three

  Haven

  Mackenzie Stiles’ status in the front of my pants just got upgraded from a young woman I’m responsible for protecting to a grown ass woman who needs a hand seeking her own pleasure.

  I’m not proud of the way my body reacted to finding her sex toy that I’m still holding in my palm, but I’m also a man. It’s biology’s fault for inserting images of her naked with the pink device between her legs, her eyes closed, long bronze hair messy, and lips parted in bliss as she moans and gets herself off.

  I’ve never thought about her without clothes on before, but damn if it isn’t a sight. She’s lean, so her tits are probably small perky handfuls and her slim waist would create the perfect hourglass figure above the swell of her hips.

  Boom, there she is in my head, nude, fucking herself in the bed I just tossed around, in the shower with water flowing over her curves, in the bathtub with fluffy suds strategically placed to give me a teasing view of her nipples and curls at the junction of her thighs.

  My dirty mind even tells me she stays in her room doing herself all day long, which is why she never leaves the house.

  If I could have multi-orgasms over and over with no breaks, would I ever leave my bedroom?

  No. Hell no.